(Poem 251 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

“Confucius told his disciple Tsze-kung that three things are needed for government: Weapons, food, and trust. If a ruler can’t hold on to all three, he should give up the weapons first, and the food next. Trust should be guarded to the end: without trust we cannot stand.” – Baroness Onora O’Neill

Ghosts casting curses, hiding
behind every false smile of those
who claim to be loyal, will poison
trust and hope until all faith dies.

The only way to prove innocence
is to leap into the arms of fear,
give yourself permission to endeavor,
and outsmart evil with persistence.

The truth will win out when you
refuse to give in to the superstition
that strives to steal your joy with
lies that discriminate and demean.

Only by lifting up the oppressed
who cry out for mercy and plead
to be vindicated by righteousness,
can you free yourself from the curse.

@Home Studio – 251^st poem of the year (After watching the Korean drama Our Blooming Youth.)

Lee Jong-jae, Our Blooming Youth. Park Hyung-sik, Jeon So-nee, Story & Pictures Media, 6 Feb.—11 Apr. 2023.

O’Neill, Baroness Onora, “Without Trust We Cannot Stand (Excerpts from the Reith Lectures, 2002)” University of Cambridge, Trust & Technology Initiative, http://www.trusttech.cam.ac.uk/perspectives/technology-humanity-society-democracy/without-trust-we-cannot-stand